Cal Cruises To Sweep Of Pitt In Home Opener

Cal vs Pitt

• October 14, 2023
• Berkeley, Calif.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Courtesy: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – The No. 11 California women’s swimming & diving team outscored Pittsburgh 202-93 in its home opener at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Saturday. Leah Polonsky highlighted the Golden Bears’ showing with her trio of first-place finishes.

The Cal swimmers were fastest in every event of the meet and Caroline Li from the women’s diving squad was victorious in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events to help lift the Bears to victory.

Polonsky captured the 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley best times to get off to a strong start in the 2023-24 dual meet season. She outdistanced teammate Lizzy Cook by nearly three seconds in the 200 fly, posting a 1:57.51 time. The Bears swept the event with Ashlyn Fiorilli snagging third place.

Isabelle Stadden also had an impressive showing, leading the 200-yard medley with fellow Bears Hannah Brunzell, Mia Kragh and McKenna Stone to a first-place finish. Stadden also took the top time in the 100-yard back with her 52.71 finish, winning by almost three seconds.

Brunzell made her Blue & Gold debut after transferring to Cal from Northwestern and racked up two first-place finishes. She posted a 1:01.53 time in the 100-yard breaststroke and a 2:14.95 in the 200-yard breaststroke to capture her pair of wins.

Fanni Fabian dominated the distance events, collecting first-place finishes in both the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyle.

UP NEXT
Cal will return to the pool on Oct. 27 when it hosts Washington State at 2 p.m. PST at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.

BERKELEY – The No. 2 California men’s swimming & diving team made its home debut against Pittsburgh on Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Golden Bears won 12 of the 14 events as they defeated the Panthers 170-127.

Cal opened the meet taking first and second in the 200 medley relay. It was the first of eight events where the Bears captured the top two spots. The Bear’s “A” lineup of Bjorn Seeliger, Liam Bell, Dare Rose, and Jack Alexy came in first with a time of 1:25.88.

It was the first of two wins for Seeliger, Alexy, and Rose. Seeliger was also victorious in the 50 freestyle with a time of 19. Alexy won the 100 free comfortably, finishing with a time of 43.42. Rose won the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:45.62. All three swimmers finished with NCAA “B” Standard times in their respective races.

Also taking home individual wins was Jack Meehan won both distance races, winning the 100 free with a time of 9:14.16. Later in the race, he led the Bears sweep in the 500 free with a time of 4:28.59. Aaron Shackell and Robin Hanson finished second and third in that race.

Hanson was victorious in the 200 free (1:36.13), and Gabriel Jett won the 100 backstroke finishing with a time of 46.99 – another NCAA “B” standard time. Colby Mefford won the 200 back with a time of 1:43.88 – an NCAA “B” standard time.

Cal swept the 100 butterfly with Matthew Jensen winning with a time of 48.23. Freshmen Roman Jones and Samuel Quarels finished second and third. In the most exciting race of the afternoon, Jett held off Destin Lasco in the 200 IM. Jett touched the wall first with a time of 1:45.84 – just ahead of Lasco who finished with a time of 1:46.89.

Across the street at Legends Aquatic Center sophomore Joshua Thai finished second in the 3-meter drive and fourth in the 1-meter dive. His score in the 3-meter dive of 350.78 is good enough to qualify for the Zone E Championships. He also recorded a Zone E mark in the 1-meter dive with a score of 329.85. Freshmen Geoffrey Vavitsas, Scott Garman, and Jack Clark made their debut for the Bears. Vavitsas took third in the 3-meter dive with a score of 325.90.

Cal will return to action on Friday, Nov. 3 when Stanford comes to Spieker Aquatics Complex for the annual Triple Distance Meet.

Courtesy: Pitt Athletics

BERKELY, Calif. – The Pitt women’s swimming and diving program wrapped up their trip to the Bay Area by facing off against California, early Saturday afternoon. The Panthers had three second place finishes and seven third-place finishes.

Sophomore Megan Iannon shined on the springboard by finishing in second place in both the 1-meter (243.83) and in the 3-meter (263.38).

Sophomore Claire Jansen claimed second in the 100 Back (55.62) and placed third in the 200 Back (2:01.23). Freshman Parker Del Balso also came in third in the 100 Back with a time of 56.73.

Other prominent finishes included freshman Avery Kudlac finishing third in the 200 Free (1:51.42) while sophomore transfer Jessica Strong finished third in both the 100 Breast (1:05.04) and the 200 Breast (2:21.72).

UP NEXT
The Panthers are back in action with a double dual meet with Notre Dame and Penn State in South Bend, Ind., Oct. 20-21.

BERKELY, Calif. – The Pitt men’s swimming and diving program wrapped up their trip to the Bay Area by facing off against reigning back-to-back national champion California, early Saturday afternoon.

Fifth-year Jerry Chen continued his dominant weekend performance by picking up his third and fourth event wins in less than 24 hours. Chen claimed first in the 100 Breast (54.03) and the 200 Breast (1:57.83). Chen’s time in the 100 breast is currently ranked No. 11 in the nation, while his time in the 200 Breast is ranked No. 8. Chen also picked up a second-place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 1:52.73.

On the diving side, Dylan Reed won both the 1-meter (368.03) and the 3-meter (356.63). Reed, Cameron Cash, and Daley Fraser finished 1-2-3 on the 1-meter. Reed came in first with a score of 368.03, followed by Cash with a score of 335.10 and Fraser with a total score of 333.68.

The Panthers continued to impress this weekend as Marcin Goraj finished second in the 200 Free with a time of 1:37.95 and second in the 200 Back with a time of 1:44.08. Stepan Goncharov and Krzysztof Radziszewski took second and third, respectively, both in the 100 Back and the 100 Free.

The 200 Medley Relay team of Radziszewski, Chen, Goraj, and Goncharov finished third with a time of 1:27.65.

UP NEXT
The Panthers are back in action with a double dual meet with Notre Dame and Penn State in South Bend, Ind., Oct. 20-21.